Berkswell have joined West Bromwich Dartmouth as joint leaders of the Birmingham and District Premier Cricket League following a crushing 214 run victory over rock bottom Himley, while Dartmouth were restricted to a losing draw by Barnt Green.
Brockhampton’s 163 run success over Kidderminster Victoria sees them maintain the pressure on the top two and there were victories for Knowle & Dorridge over Shrewsbury and Walsall at home to Dorridge.
At Stourbridge Road, Berkswell raced to 299 for seven in 55 overs against Himley who were shot out for 85 in reply. Mark Best (111) and James Neale (92) put on 192 for the first wicket with seventh and eighth bowlers Jamie Harris and Greg Wright the only ones to stem the flow with 3-64 and 4-54 respectively.
Shell-shocked Himley were put to the sword when it was their turn to bat as Chris Cheslin took 7-27 to put them out of their misery. Harris (25), Wright (22) and Worcestershire’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore (17) reached double figures but the rest of the order was blown away by Cheslin who took seven consecutive wickets before Nick James (2-10) completed the rout with the last one to fall.
Barnt Green, also, enjoyed the superb batting conditions that the recent fine weather has produced as they scored 285 for seven against Dartmouth with half-centuries from Ed Pollock (64), Nathan Newport (60) and Will Baker (54). Brinder Phagura (3-54) and Aqsad Ali (3-81) were the best bowlers for Dartmouth who were pegged back by 4-45 from Warwickshire trialist Josh Poysden.
Zeeshan Asif (33), Kadeer Ali (31) and Aqsad Ali (31) all made starts but the Dartmouth reply fizzled out on 203 for eight. Brockhampton blazed 288 for eight against Kidderminster Victoria who were dismissed for 125. Adam Hewlett top scored with 68 and Chris Boroughs added 60 for Brockhampton with Gareth Williams taking 3-86 for Kidderminster.
Boroughs then took 3-47 to inspire a collapse which would have been much worse but for 28 from skipper Jonathan Wright batting at number nine. Although Derbyshire’s Richard Johnson blasted 63 off 45 balls at the start of the innings, Knowle & Dorridge soon crumbled to 94 for five against Shrewsbury before a sixth wicket stand of 125 between Captain David Smith (65) and Jack Grundy (61) saw them to 222 for seven at London Road.
Shrewsbury were in even worse trouble at 98 for eight and there was no escape route for the 2013 Champions who drop into the bottom two after they were dismissed for 104. Will Mottram took 3-34 and there were two wickets each for Grundy, Michael Bevan and Chris Davidson. A superb 122 from 122 balls by Hong Kong’s Jamie Atkinson was the highlight of Dorridge’s 239 for five at Walsall with support from Aussie David Ball (42).
At 217 for four, Atkinson was bowled by Paul Byrne (5-69) and Dorridge slumped to 239 for nine by the close of the innings. Desperately needing a victory, Walsall were given a flying start by James Middleton (80 off 72 balls) and their four wicket win with more than six overs to spare was finished off by Jack Biddulph (45 not out), Byrne (30) and David Powles (27).
The highest score of the day came at Walmley where visitors Kenilworth Wardens smashed 304 for six with major runs from Keith Bell (103), Sitanshu Kotak (80) and Nick Seager (64). Young off-spinner Michael Waugh took 4-75 for Walmley who were facing defeat on 123 for seven before an unbroken eighth wicket stand of 121 between Ray Cooper (101 not out from 68 balls) and Chris Whittock (37 not out) saw them to safety on 244 for seven.
Cooper hit nine sixes and eight fours and clubbed all 56 runs that were scored off the last five overs to deny Wardens the extra two points for a winning draw. Earlier in the innings, Danial Chaudhry hit 51 and Kotak took 3-69 but it was Cooper who provided the fireworks at the end!